Confessions of a Salesman - Surviving Black Friday at Sears in Owensboro, Kentucky

Nightmares, the horror of knowing Black Friday would be the next day perplexed me. Visions of tire tracks across my back, being trampled on by customers wielding buggies full of Sear's Craftsman tools overflowed the bowels of my imagination. My stomach turned with fear, as though I had ingested cold pizza for lunch. My ears filled from obscenities shouted out from irate customers who would not be able to get the tool they had stood in line for three hours frightened me too the marrow of my bone. The night before I wondered how I would survive Black Friday in the Sear's Hardware department in Owensboro, Kentucky.

I arrive at Sears at 4:45 to lines full of anxious Christmas shoppers. Would be Kamikaze suicide shoppers stood in line several feet deep in front of the merchandise pickup area. Lines of men, women and children filter into the parking lot of the Owensboro, Kentucky Sears location, anxiously they all wait for the opening bell to ring. I see the nightmares of come crashing into my mind, I see the stampede rolling over the top of me, like the watchers of the bull runs in Mexico. Snapped back into reality I hear over the loud speaker my hardware manager, Daniel Koontz, "Five, four, three, two, one!" The doors are now open for Black Friday early morning suicide shoppers. I say to my fellow sales associates, "It was nice knowing you!" I go into survival mode, and hide behind my register, protecting myself from the oncoming line of Black Friday Sear's suicide shoppers.

The floor shakes as though a thousand horses our let into the store, but to my surprise, the customers are rather nice.

Here are a few ways I survived by black Friday while at Sears.

Smile and greet each customer-As the customers start to gather up their Christmas gifts and coming to through my line I smile a friendly smile too each one. Every customer seems to appreciate the gesture on such a dreaded day as Black Friday when most sales people fights too survive; I went into my normal selling mode.

Wish every customer a Merry Christmas-As the customers filter through my line, and the ticker tape sprawls out into the floor, I wish each of my customers a Merry Christmas. This gesture much appreciated on a day such as Black Friday.

Help customers find wanted merchandise-Most of the day I felt like the scarecrow in, Wizard of Oz directing the customers to the items they want for their loved ones, with my hands flying out in every direction pointing them to the mounds of merchandise. Nevertheless, this kind gesture of helping the customer made for a very fruitful and moneymaking day. The gesture of kindness helped me to survive black Friday in Sear's Owensboro, Kentucky.

I consider myself a life-long learner when it comes to the lessons of life. I have always tried to take the lemons of life, and make lemonade, even though I thought before the customers had arrived for Black Friday early morning bargains my lemons would surely be crushed from insane, irate customer. However, as the saying goes, "Nothing is as bad as they say it is, such as a trip to dentist when you know pain will be inflicted." I can happily say I am survivor of Black Friday, and I think the end of result of having a good attitude surely did help me to survive. Nothing and I mean nothing is as bad as they say it is, and the lesson learned you can stay in one piece on even a day as a day when trying to survive Black Friday.